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Archive for November, 2005

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22: 3 Weeks to go

Monday, November 21st, 2005

Haven’t blogged for over a week cos I’m a little busy preparing to leave
the country…

Cheapskate as I am I even cut’n’pasting a this blog from an email I sent
to some friends earlier.. why write it twice… 😉

Less than 3 weeks now and I’m off!!! Eeek 😉

Moved most of my stuff into storage a week ago and slowly shutting
down all the stuff that’s going on .. you know the deal having left
the country yourself 🙂

Bills, Banks, Cars and god knows what to sort out *yikes* 🙂

Ebay’s best friend again to rid of those useless
otherwise-good-for-only-trash items, amazing what people buy 😀

Visas sorted (hey – cant work in NZ/Australia not even bar cos me
too old to get work visa *booooo!* 😉
Well just gotta enjoy the lazy life I guess 🙂

Staring in disbelief at my backpack and all the stuff that needs
to go in there 😀 Blimey.. that lot needs a bloody good squeeze!

Actually its not the volume, more the weight that concerns me to be
honest.. Right now I’m still below 20kg but.. Either way it looks
like I should reduce my gear by 50%..

Other than that I’m mostly looking for places to stay now for my first
stop… thinking a slight change of plan for the first 2 weeks or so.. wanted to
climatise in Bangkok for a week or two but kinda like the idea of a
beach stay instead.. probably do a week or two on Koh Samui or so before
doing the inland trip. That’s providing I find a descent yet cheap place
to stay. Terribly expensive around xmas as you can imagine.. well we’ll
see what I can come up with..

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21: Moving Day

Saturday, November 12th, 2005

I moved most of my things into storage today.

What a week!

Spent all week packing more of my things (and throwing out an incredible amount of stuff that I have accumulated since I last moved a year ago). Unreal how difficult it is to part from things that I had kept for ages but which – to be honest – are utterly useless 😉 Anyway – I’m getting there I guess. After all the thinning out and throwing away I still had about 30 boxes plus my bed to move. No other furniture luckily since I sold them with my flat :-D.

Got the “Man with a Van” again to help me move. So much better than getting your own van! No need to pickup or return a rental van, no worries about parking tickets and on top of that I also get someone (actually two guys) to help me move my stuff. All that for less than what I would have paid for a rental van – excellent! 😀

What’s left in the flat now is not too much really. Only stuff that I will pretty much need until the end, take with me on my trip or things that I plan to sell on ebay (to top up those travel funds:-)).

Visas:
Got my Passport back yesterday with visas for Thailand and Vietnam and I already had the Australia visa so that’s all I need prior to my trip as far as Visas are concerned.

Vaccinations:
Think I’m thought more than half the shots now. Five or six more injections and that’s it.
Read the side effectes of Doxycycline (my Malaria Pills) and I’m not amused! Sounds like some rather nasty stuff to be honest. Photo Sensitivity amongst other things that I don’t want to mention here.. not good when going to sunny SE Asia *doh*.

Backpack:
How bl**dy difficult can it be??? Hardly any of the local shops have descent medium size backpacks in stock but buying online without trying out the pack is not really to my liking either. Looks like I may need to order a few online and hope I find at least one of the right size which also fits well..

Clothes:
Tried a whole bunch of Sandals and decided to stick with my Teva Wraptors. They are so! incredibly comfortable, I don’t even want to take them off when at home 🙂 They also give very good support and are very suitable for prolonged walking… Blister problems have been reported but I wore them at home for the last two weeks while doing all my packing etc and so far so good. Biggest worry apart from blisters: Apparently Teva Sandals are known to stink after a while but probably most Sandals have that problem since you don’t wear socks. The new Wraptors also claim to use antibacterial materials to avoid the stench ;-). We shall see how they perform..

Saw a nice Wind/Water proof eVENT jacket at akive8 and was going to buy it but some guy snatched it away right in front of me… And that whilst the shop had a 20% discount week *grrrrr*!

Other than that still trying to keep things to a minimum and as light as possible.. (50L pack and max 20kg please!)

Strange feeling knowing that soon I will have nothing but a backpack to live out of.

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20: Finally.. Insurance

Saturday, November 5th, 2005
So I checked the policy of that "amazing" Endsleigh insurance again and called up the company to clarify a few things. Yes they do off a "All Risks" policy for specified valuables up to max £1500 however... The problem is that they ... [Continue reading this entry]

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19: Is it possible?

Thursday, November 3rd, 2005
Is it possible? Unlimited Travel Health Cover, highest cover for other travel insurance items compared to most other insurances and more imporantly cover for
    valuables up to £1500 under an "all risks" policy
"All risk" meaning lost, stolen or damaged ... [Continue reading this entry]

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18: Travel Insurance Trouble

Tuesday, November 1st, 2005
Struggling to find a suitable travel insurance. Problems: 1) I'm travelling for >2-3 months which limits the number of insurances on offer -> Must find insurance that covers trips up to 12 months 2) I am too old! Many backpacking insurance ... [Continue reading this entry]

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